Happy Winter Solstice!

More on Solstice

Winter Solstice is one of two very special days in the year to me. Not something I particularly noticed until I moved to Alaska as wee lass. That's when I learned how important the sun is, especially to places on the extreme ends of the earth. By that I mean North and South. 

Alaska is as far north as you can get and still stay in the USA. Barrow is at the very top top of the state. Barrow hasn't seen the sun above the horizon since 1:44PM on November 17, 2012. It won't peek above the horizon again until 1:11PM on January 23, 2013. 67 days without seeing a single ray of shining golden sun. I must give thanks to Carmen Bydalek for this information she posted on the AKRWA blog. Check it out. Lots of interesting facts there!

Here in Anchorage the sun will rise at 10:14 AM and set at 3:42 PM for a total of 5h 27m 40s of possible sunlight. I say possible because clouds could interfere. When we look into the sky to see the sun, we will look due south. 

My brother, an avid fisherman, has his birthday on Dec 22, a day he calls "Salmon Return Day." He insists that the salmon far out at sea can sense that very slight change as the daylight increases by a few seconds. It is then they begin their journey back to the streams of their origin. Just he can catch them and fill his freezer. He likes living in his world. The rest doesn't matter to him.

Although the sun is returning, bare seconds and minutes at a time, we're still in the deep long dark of winter. December, for all its darkness outside is bright with Christmas lights and the excitement of the holidays. The secret to making it through to the end of winter and avoiding cabin fever is to keep busy. Many ski, or take to the back country on snow machines (what the rest of you call snow mobiles. Some villagers call them snow-gos.) or the lakes for ice fishing. Others dig in, take Vitamin D supplements and read while avoiding the influx of the Christmas bills and tax forms hitting the mail boxes. 

But now is not the time for dark contemplation. Today is for celebration! We're done losing light! From here to June we gain it!

Until then, read a Sci-Fi Romance that also celebrates the Solstices. FROZEN may be found at a variety of ebook retailers and is hot enough to keep the long, long nights warm indeed! However you choose to celebrate, I wish you all the best.

Morgan

Get Some Tonight

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Links to FROZEN:  Amazon  *  Barnes&Noble  *  Sony eReader  *  YouTube Trailer

Cupid's Choice Stops At The Morgan Diaries

Yes, it's another fun and rollicking Blog Hop put on by the awesome authors of JustRomance.me and we're playing for all we're worth this weekend and getting in the mood for Valentine's Day. If you're starting here, be sure to pick up the hop at the beginning by clicking on the link above.


Frankly, this year it's taking a little work to get in the mood. Jmo and I have both been nose to the grindstone, writing, writing, writing. Which is a good thing. A great thing! But tends to leave our significant others wondering, yet again, where we're traveling inside our heads. 


So, with romance in the air, I got to thinking about some of the most romantic moments in my life and I asked Jmo to give me a little nudge. He never disappoints. 


Jmo on Valentine's Day

It was a dark and stormy night. Not really, but we authors say that when we're struggling to come up with something genius. When it comes to Valentine's Day, that means we say it a lot, especially us guys. No matter how romantic we seem on the outside, that one day of the year scares the crap out of us. Mainly because we know nothing we do the rest of the year to show our wives how much we love them matters as much as we do this one day of the year. That said, my wife is the greatest! She never asks for much. A dinner out. Great chocolate and no Star Wars for at least the day of. I can usually manage two of those.

She, on the other hand, knows exactly how to tug my heartstrings. Every year she makes it a point to get me the most romantic thing in the world! Yep, you guessed it. A giant Reeses peanut butter heart. Hey, I'm a guy. We're simple like that. The point I'm trying to make is this. Women know men better than we know them. Men in general spend at least a good week coming up with the perfect gift, or so we think. Like women want something to make housework easier or a Quesadilla maker to, well, make us quesadillas. That realization hits us, oh, about the time our special someone tells us that the night before Valentine's Day. Which is why the local Walgreen's is bombarded and drained of not-so-nice smelling perfume and cheap heart shaped boxes of chocolates by 9am Valentine's Day. It also explains why restaurant reservations suspiciously get lost when we take you out for fine dining.

So, ladies, in advance, I'd like to apologize for my bonehead brothers in confusion. We promise to do better next year or you can kill us. It'd be so much simpler than torturing us for the rest of our lives.

Morgan's Take

So that's why we spent an hour in a crowded anteroom at Sullivan's Steakhouse last year waiting for a table? A last minute decision to go out for a late dinner on Valentine's. At least they served wine and munchies while we sat elbow to elbow with a few dozen strangers.

And while that was, in a way, very romantic, it's really hard to beat the Valentine's Day before our wedding.  Yes, there have been many good ones since, but that one, well. Let me tell you the story. There's a teeny bit of history here. 

Roses from Mr. O'Reilly many years later.
He's still romantic!

For many years my father was involved in Rotary and every year his club sold and delivered red roses. For $10, the businessman who forgot all about the day could have one dozen long stemmed red roses delivered anywhere in the city. Being the driving offspring of one Rotarian, there were a few years I got to do the delivering for him. Then there was the year I was working elsewhere and couldn't take the day to do the running. I was at my desk, working high above of busy warehouse when my sweetie arrived with a dozen red roses. He didn't say a word, just handed them to me, turned around and left. 

Curious, I went out on the balcony over looking the warehouse and watched as he walked across it to the other office and out the door. A few minutes later he came back carrying two dozen red roses. And the girls on the other side all crowded up against the window to see where he was going. He climbed the stairs, handed me the roses, turned around and went back the way he came.

Three trips, and a large bucket later, I had in my tiny office, six dozen roses. He made one more trip and came back with the seventh, and final bundle of flowers. 

I was laughing and amazed and completely won over. Again. Somewhere deep in a dark box I have a picture of all those roses. I need to dig it out. Twenty plus years later, it's a good reminder of how things started out. A good benchmark for all we've been through and how much better things are today.

Have a special Valentine's memory? Planning something big this year? One commenter will win a copy of Jmo's book The Southern Werewolf Chronicles Book Two: Were the Moon Don't Shine, which is also up for Review of the Week at Long and Short Reviews. Commenters will also be included in the big drawing for the Nook Touch which will be loaded with books, such as Morgan's Til Death Undo Us, Book 1 of the Open Windows series. Things get really hopping here and the generosity bug could take a big bite outta us and we might find more stuff to give away.

The Morgans

PS: If you haven't met us before and are curious, and who isn't really, at the top of this page, on the right, is a list of pages associated with this blog. The list includes J. Morgan's books, Morgan Q. O'Reilly's books, and a some we did together. Ya know, just in case you want more stuff to read, and who doesn't! We love to read! So dig in and enjoy.

Anatomy of a Love Bite

One of the most asked questions any author faces is: "Where did the idea for that story come from?" I thought why not blog about it. Hey, I blog about sillier stuff. Instead of focusing on one book, I thought why not go whole hog and talk about what inspires a series. Fair warning this blog contains blatant self promotion and more than a little ego spanking. That said, stay tuned for the…

Anatomy of a Love Bite.

It was a dark and stormy night sometime in the Spring of 2008. Really. It was. Check the weather reports if you don't believe me. Anyway, Lynne Connolly IMed me to say a publisher was about to open submission for comedic paranormal shorts. Sounded perfect for me, since I am a comedy writer. At the same time in another window I was talking to another good friend Savannah Chase, in case you're wondering. She said something. I said something. We both LOLed and suddenly the idea for Love at First Stake popped into my head… along with my heroine, Savannah Marshall. But, I needed a hero to match her. Okay, this is going to sound crazy but in yet another window I was chatting with another friend, Helen Ravell, just to give everyone their due. Whereas I wanted Savannah to be a little ditzy but strong, I wanted my hero to be her opposite. Telling Helen my idea, a hero started to take shape. From that brainstorming session Donatello Ravell was born. Rudolpho came as a complete surprise and reflects no other IM windows I may or may not have had open.

A week later, I had the nearly perfect 20k story written and subbed. Now during the two month wait to hear back, I prayed it wouldn't be accepted. Weird for an author to say, but it was true. The whole world inside that 20-something thousand word story kept nagging at me. It wanted to be bigger, longer, and instead of a short story, I had a novel forming in my head. Luckily, I got my rejection and that freed me to start playing again. Over the next 4 months, I tweaked, wrung and basically teased the world I wanted out of the shortie. But, that still wasn't enough. I saw a bigger world. I just didn't know how to get it out. So I shelved it to percolate and worked on a few other things.

Skipping ahead a bit, I heard a new company was about to open. So I dragged Love at First Stake out again and read it over. A small amount of tweaking went on yet again and I subbed it for a second time. Biting my nails I waited. Exciting, isn't it? Since you're reading this, you know I heard back with an affirmative from Desert Breeze Publishing. Feeling pretty good, I beamed, but a pesky question from Gail Delaney set my mind to wandering. In a conversation about the book, she said, 'From the ending I see you left it open to do a sequel. Where do you see this going?'

Okay, as I said, L@1stS was left open to a sequel, but that question burned a hole in my brain, as I scrambled to come up with something other than 'duh'. My muse slapped the answer in my head. At the time I thought it was a good one that soon changed. I waxed poetic about all these siblings floating around and how I'd toss them in the love abyss in each book. See, sounded good to me. Sounded good to Gail, too. So, now we had 3 books in the series in our collective heads. The second, Love to Stake Another Day—available now!—would be about Sav's brother and Donnie's sister and I'd toss in Rudolpho's crazy daughter as the villain. We'd work on the plot for Book 3 later but it would probably be about Eli, Donnie's younger brother.

Before Gail left me off the hook, she asked, 'So what would the series title be?' I was on the hot seat again. Several titles floated through my head. Vamps in Love? Nah! Love Sucks! Yeah it did at times, but no. Love Bites? Okay we both liked that one and sounded much better than Love Sucks, even though Vampires suck blood but in the case of the series, the books wouldn't. Suck that is. We had a title and a second book in our heads. Time to get to work.

Now, we come to Love to Stake Another Day. I was halfway through my first draft, when inspiration smacked me a good one. Each book in the series would be a stand alone book, but part of something bigger. Suddenly conspiracy theories and subplots floated through my head. Each book would tell a main story, but underneath it all something darker lurked. Somewhere down the line all these subplots would converge and explode. I get chills just thinking about it.

That brings us to Book 3, Love Free Stake Hard. Instead of Eli, I saw Demetrious as the hero in this third volume. So, Eli gets pushed back to book 4. With each book I wanted to build upon what has gone on before and pump up the tension. LFSH will have all the elements of the first two, but will finally reveal some secrets I started in L@1stS. I can't divulge anything just yet, but I promise when you turn that last page, you'll be asking yourselves, 'He didn't just do that. Did he?' Or you could be asking yourself, 'WTH was he thinking?' I'm betting on the first one.

Somewhere in the middle of Book 3, still in production by the way, I had another moment of inspiration. L@1stS always felt like there was a story that needed to be told that lead up to the meeting of Sav and Donnie. I approached Gail and said I have this idea for a short, a freebie that would give some insight into the Love Bites world and help bridge the distance between Books 1 and 4. I explained what I had in mind and Gail said run with it. Love Bites ½ was born, or as I like to call it, Love a Little, Stake a Little. And now another piece of the puzzle fell into place. With more pieces to come as the muse sees fit to let me know about them. For now, that is the story thus far of how the story thus far came to be. Whew, I'm tired just writing that last sentence.

Well, that's the Anatomy of Love Bites, sort of. As you can see, inspiration isn't a one time thing. Like a child it grows, adapts and gives you migraines along the way. As an author you either learn to adapt along with it or it'll put you in a nursing home with padded cells. I've already got mine reserved and waiting.

I hope any of this made sense to you. Like I said, people always ask where our ideas come from. Sometimes a two or three line answer leaves out a lot of the details and the Vampire is in the details. 'Snicker'

Okay boys, slip me in the coat and cart me away. I'm ready for the cell now.

Jmo

Before I leave, I just have to thank the man who makes every cover paint a story. Nik, I couldn't do it without you. Well, I could but it's more fun to see what you'll come up with next.

Love to Stake Another Day

Halloween is over! That doesn't mean you get to miss out on all those things that go bump in the night and the fun they make. Thanks to a special dispensation from the Vampire Council and St. Vlad's—no not that one—League of Slayers the fun is only beginning.

Love Bites Book 2: Love to Stake Another Day is here to get you over that Post-Halloween Slump. Desert Breeze Publishing and J. Morgan are proud to present the second installment of the series that's so Fangalicious, Vampires everywhere are suffering from bad dental hygiene and a severe case of stomach cramps from all the laughter.

Don't find yourself wondering what all the blah blahing is about. Go out and get your copy today. I wonder say you'll regret it, but a stake to the heart may be in your future if you don't. Just in case you're wondering a stake to the heart isn't a good thing. Just as Vlad—yeah that one.

Love to Stake Another Day

Love Bites Book 2

From

J. Morgan

And

Desert Breeze publishing

Available Now!


Blurb:

Lyssette Ravell finds herself smack dab in the middle of a mess her brother started. When a new threat surfaces to threaten the Vampire/Human alliance recently set in place, she finds herself teamed with Kristain Marshall, who just so happens to be her almost brother-in-law.

Sent to rescue her brother Eli from the clutches of Rudolpho's daughter Valerious, Lyssette finds more than she bargained for. There's a traitor on the Vampire Council. Now, Lyssette must save her brother, root out this traitor and at the same time avoid at all cost falling in love with Kristain, the one man who could make her forget all the vows she's ever taken as an agent of the VCI.


EXCERPT


"Let go of me!" It would have came out more assertive if the towel hadn't slipped and I had to scramble to make good on my promise not to show him the money again today.

Kristain pulled me into his rock hard chest, trapping me. "Not until I have my say."

I gave up trying to fight him. Not sure, but I thought my nipples were liking it entirely too much. "You've said enough."

"Maybe I have, but I've been saying it the wrong way. I'm attracted to you. More than attracted to you. Don't ask me what I mean by that, because hell if I know. I just know I can't get you out of my head and that makes me a little stupid around you when all I want is to be James Bond." He let me go and just walked away, leaving me semi-naked and confused. "So, if you want to leave, leave. I can understand why you would want to. I've been nothing more than a horse's ass since the first time we met."

I knew that touching moment would pop up sooner or later. "You're not always a horse's ass. Sometimes you're a cute buffoon."

"At least that's a step up from where I thought I was. Lyssette, I shouldn't even be thinking about you this way."

"Why, because I'm a Vampire?" Not that I didn't agree with him, but I wanted a damn reason.

"Hell, no. After seeing Donnie and Savannah together, what we are ¿ or aren't ¿ isn't an issue."

"What then?" Now I really wanted to know.

"For one thing, we're partners and for another we're family. Well, sort of. The thing is, if we started something and if it ended badly it wouldn't just affect you and me, it could tear Savannah's marriage apart. As much as I want this—" He waved his hands between the two of us. "I won't do anything to hurt her. She deserves every bit of happiness that comes her way."

He'd actually thought this through. I'd taken him for one of those insipid-macho-girl-in-every-city types. He certainly had the swagger down. Let's not forget how well he could fling a line of bullshit at fifty yards without missing a beat. Granted, he was probably a toad and this could be just another one of his tricks. As good as that sounded in my head, I didn't get that feeling. Hard as it was to believe, Mr. Marshall appeared to be baring his soul to me. I didn't see that one coming.

"You're right. It would definitely complicate things so it's a good thing we're not taking this any further." We weren't. Right? My mind said no, but my body seemed to think it might be a damn fine idea. Stupid men showing their sensitive side.